Do you wish a day was at least 30 hours long to do all the things you want to do?
There are a number of things we can do to make the most of our days. Some of them are counter intuitive.
What I noticed in the first lockdown, where all my performance engagements and workshops were cancelled, was that all of a sudden I had lots of time to put to good use. My first thought was how can I help others from a distance and the second was how can I make the most out of my days and have fun.
Days could feel as though they were slipping by, or they could feel full and rewarding. It really came home to me that it’s up to us what we do with our time and has much more to do with our intention than the actions per se. I really don’t want to go off on a tangent about time management here, although I’m deeply passionate about the topic.
Here I’m interested in talking about the play-work divide and how I believe our lives come alive when the two come together.
- Focus on your outcomes and not on your to-do list
- Learn to manage your energy levels rather than focusing on the time ticking away
- Ask for help
- Look for a more fun way to do a task
- Don’t multi-task
- Ask for what you really want
- Get a good night’s sleep
- Meditate daily
- Exercise regularly
- BE HERE NOW
- Be with the person in front of you
- Randomly stop for 20 seconds every now and then
- Focus on the Important issues, not the Urgent Issues, and definitely not the unimportant and non urgent issues!
- Be present with what you are doing. No, you are not present with what you are doing! You are thinking about the next task or dwelling over past memories. BE HERE NOW
- Laugh at the stress of time and deliberately let people go in front of you at the supermarket, or whenever, to let go of self-importance
- Taste the flavour of this moment
- Go deeper into what you are doing
- Look for more efficient ways of doing routine tasks
- If you can, automate
- Think in cycles of two or three days or a week. You don’t have to do everything today. Keep your urgent need for completion in check.
- Do something fun everyday
Which are your favourite? Pick two or three to start with and practice them whenever you can.
Cheers, Anthony
